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Grating ginger: frozen or not?


rotuts

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I don't use fresh ginger that often, so to keep it usable longer I freeze it. I look for a plump 'hand', rinse it and pat it very dry and toss it into a plastic bag, remove what air I can and freeze it.

When I need ginger, I take the frozen un-peeled ginger and grate it with various Microplanes. I plane the exposed area and toss that to get to the 'fresh' area that doesnt have 'freezer burn.'

today I was going to use a fair amount of ginger in various SV dishes Im setting up, so got a fresh 'hand.' Cut off a piece and tossed the rest in the freezer.

Low and behold the fresh did not grate well at all, but I had a small frozen piece that saved the day.

Didn't know this until now!

Edited by rotuts (log)
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I always use a micro plane for ginger and garlic - no problem if you rinse immediately.

Is the grating issue due to fibrous ginger? I've never tried to grate frozen ginger before. Can you tell the difference in the finished dish? I'd like to not waste so much of it, that's for sure.

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when i tried to grate the ginger fresh, it didnt cut so much as got crushed. this was with a sharp micro-plane. I was surprised. The frozen ginger with the same micro-plane grated perfectly. You vary the size of the 'grate' by the size of the micro-plane. I leave the skin on as it protects the ginger while frozen, and it gets added in the 'grate' You just plane off the exposed frozen end and toss until you get to 'fresh frozen' ginger.

I cant tell any difference in the dish. If you want larger chunks, then you use your knife.

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I usually use too much garlic per meal to bother with the freezing + grating. If I want a really fine puree of ginger, microplaning from fresh gives me that.

Galangal, obviously since it's a close cousin of ginger. I freeze but don't grate lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves as well. The one exception to frozen ginger is when I use slices in a broth that are later removed. Slicing frozen ginger is too much of a pain so I get fresh.

PS: I am a guy.

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  • 2 years later...

Found this thread while looking for something else ginger related.

 

I've been making peanut sauce with fresh ginger.  I buy it fresh and keep it in a sealed zip bag in the fridge.  I don't keep it a very long time before it gets used up.  I grate it with one of two Microplanes that I have, and the results are just perfect.  First, I peel the skin exposing as much ginger as needed and then just grate away.  I cannot image grating frozen ginger and getting a better result.

 

Rotuts, and others, what do you experience when grating fresh ginger that makes it inferior to frozen?

 ... Shel


 

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using a microplane,  frozen grates much better than fresh, but  a ceramic ginger grater for fresh is even better imo.   I was lucky enough to pick this one up for 10 Cents at a thrift shop.

 

grater_zps7593aaf2.jpg

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I don't have problems or issues with grating fresh ginger.  I just use a box grater, usually after scraping off the skin. The juices definitely get collected and used too.  I can imagine that if one does not get juices freely running when grating "fresh" ginger then the ginger really isn't "fresh" anymore.  I've never frozen ginger, never needed to, don't see the need to.  I use a lot of ginger.  Really old ginger and/or very fibrous ones I might use for other purposes - like braises or slow-simmered (or double steamed) soups, but usually they just get tossed.  For other uses (which is most of the time, really) the ginger gets julienned or simply sliced, usually with the skin left on but sometimes not, depending on what I am making or what I feel like.  I've never needed to microplane slices of ginger, simply using my chef's knife is good enough.  At other times I use my cleaver to crush (smack down hard) on knobs of ginger - better for releasing the juices - when using it for soups and poaches and stocks.  Hard to do that with frozen ginger, I think.  

 

It's also so cheap (from my local Chinese grocery) and sufficiently fresh year-round that it seems...unwarranted...to freeze it.  I just go get some more fresh stuff.  Just speaking for myself.

 

At other times (like now) when really young, really fresh ginger is coming out from the ground in the new harvest (like these) I would never think to freeze them - they get used as the vegetable delicacy they now are, fresh - not frozen.

 

One rhizome I *do* prefer to freeze is galangal ("blue ginger") - because it is so woody and hard that cutting it or pounding it (mortar & pestle) is often difficult.  Freezing it then thawing when needed (snapping off/cutting off a piece or chunk as needed) "macerates"/softens the tissue and slicing &etc is now much easier.

Edited by huiray (log)
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I grate a lot of ginger in the food processor, then I put it in a ziplock bag and flatten it out, and I throw that in the freezer. When I need some grated ginger I just snap off a piece and let it defrost. It's the lazy lady's way of always having ginger around.

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I keep ginger roots with nodes in a 6" pot with black soil. Very fresh, and it starts growing in February. 

 

that is exactly what i do, and also for turmeric, but i suppose this works only for those who have  at least a minimal interest in potted plants.

 

it is for the same reasons and motivation to have a herb gardens, indoors in pots and/or outdoors.

It's dangerous to eat, it's more dangerous to live.

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Hello- I use a lot of grated ginger. I use a mandoline. It works wonderfully on fresh ginger. Does anyone else grate ginger this way?

"As life's pleasures go, food is second only to sex.Except for salami and eggs...Now that's better than sex, but only if the salami is thickly sliced"--Alan King (1927-2004)

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Hello- I use a lot of grated ginger. I use a mandoline. It works wonderfully on fresh ginger. Does anyone else grate ginger this way?

I'd expect a mandoline to produce sliced, not grated ginger. Is that what you mean?

I generally use my Microplane™ grater, and I use it on frozen OR fresh ginger. I seem to have more success than rotuts noted in his first post if the ginger is frozen, but it works for fresh also in my experience. I think it depends on how fibrous the root is.

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I'd expect a mandoline to produce sliced, not grated ginger. Is that what you mean?

I generally use my Microplane grater, and I use it on frozen OR fresh ginger. I seem to have more success than rotuts noted in his first post if the ginger is frozen, but it works for fresh also in my experience. I think it depends on how fibrous the root is.

Hello- My mandoline comes with a series of interchangeable blades. I slip out the slicing blade and put in the grating blade and then I have fun! Actually, besides the slicing blade, I have three other grating blades: two of them work like a traditional (?) grater and one blade has hexagonal openings. So in this weird case, I really do mean grated.

"As life's pleasures go, food is second only to sex.Except for salami and eggs...Now that's better than sex, but only if the salami is thickly sliced"--Alan King (1927-2004)

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